Saturday, April 7, 2012

Libre Tea Mug Sponsor Spotlight Review

You guys know how much I love tea so it will be no surprise that when Libre Tea contacted me and wanted to know if I would like to try their special glass mug to review that aids in making tea using loose leaf tea, I was very excited to try something new! I had all these great loose teas and the diffuser I was using was letting alot of the leaves and such escape into my cup so I was eager to find something that would eliminate that. I was sent the Libre Tea Mug to try and just so that you know they do have a small (9 oz)one and a large glass (14 oz)so you have choices now on what size cups of tea you want to have. I love my new Libre Tea Mug! Just so you know, I have the large glass and the small glass and I would be hard pressed to tell you which one I like the best but I will admit for me, either the small glass or the mug are ideal for the amount of tea that I drink. If you consume it all the time, then the large glass would probably work best for you.

I don't know if all of you have seen them around but I have read other reviews on several sites but in case you don't know, I will do my best to help you understand how it works. At the top of the glass is a diffuser built into the mug. You fill up the container with your hot water and you put your loose tea in the diffuser at the top. Then slowly turn the bottle upside down and let the tea seep and then turn back to original position and you have tea (hot or cold). The leaves stay in the filter or diffuser and the best part is the leaves can be used again so you don't waste any leaves!

I used an Earl Grey tea on this demonstration. As you can see I already have it made and you can see there are no leaves inside the mug. I had put in hot water but by the time I got ready to drink it, it had gone warm so I just added some ice and drank it as iced tea. But you can use it to make hot tea as well. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make the tea and to clean up the mug. Sometimes, it is the cleaning up process that is what I don't like but all I did was empty the filter and used warm sudsy water and cleaned out the mug and it was ready to go again. The neat thing about Libre is that it can go with you because of the screw on top. You do not have to worry about spilling your tea. Like I said earlier, you can get the small glass and it will fit into your purse or lunch bag. You can have your tea anytime of day!

The reason behind Libre tea glasses is that it is better for our planet because loose leaf tea has a much smaller eco-footprint than teabags. Unlike ‘bagged’ tea, loose leaf tea is sold by weight, easy to dispose of and biodegradable. It also requires minimal packaging, unlike bagged tea, which requires significant packaging resources and generates considerably more waste with its bags, boxes and plastic wrappers. I also did not know that loose leaf tea is sold by weight, only two to three grams are required for every cup, making it much more cost-effective than pre-packaged teabags. So, it makes good sense to take your Libre glass wherever you go and by doing so, you are helping our environment. The less mess we produce the less impact on our planet.

Also, did you know that the caffeine content in tea is released in the body at about half the rate of coffee! The absence of a ‘strong jolt’ means that tea is less taxing on the nervous system. The caffeine in tea produces a gradual increase in alertness over a few hours, as opposed to the ‘crash’ that often occurs after coffee consumption. Wow, I knew that coffee could make me jittery but never thought about what tea does. I love learning new things, don't you? There is alot of information on Libre's website and I don't have enough room to tell you all of it but you really need to check out the health benefits of tea on this page of Libre's website.

Here is what I found out on the About Us page:

Thanks for being curious! Libre tea glasses are brought to you by Energetic Marketing – we are committed to sustainable people and planet practices, excellent customer service and engaging tea moments ‘for all to enjoy and relax with’.

My journey began in 2006, when I visited China and enjoyed many tea tastings. I traveled to many gardens and temples and loved all the opportunities for tea moments.

Tea, for me, is symbolic of an ancient ritual celebrating the secular as sacred. It is a space to take a breath, reconnect with oneself and the world. It is a time to stop to enjoy life, people and the planet and remembering the joys that life has to offer.

I’ve posted some of my tea moments on Flickr at Libre Tea. I hope you’ll join in and share yours. Inspiring tea moments is my mission – I welcome any comments or ideas and value your input to give these tea moments shape and meaning.

I love when companies post something about how they started or why because it helps me understand them better and their products and what they hope to accomplish. I hope that if you are a serious tea drinker, like me, that you will look up Libre Tea and read some more about them and visit their website and other media outlets:

Libre Tea has been so gracious as to offer the winner of my Earth Day Event which begins on April 12th and ends on the 22nd. Thanks Libre Tea! Open to the U.S. only. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: Mary Bearden personally reviewed these products. I did not receive any monetary compensation for my review, just a sample product. All opinions are mine and belong to me solely. My thoughts and opinions may differ from yours. The photo's used in this review were provided by Mary Bearden and the famous cranky camera!